Morphological control of cuprate superconductors using sea sponges as templates

Jan Maurycy Uszko; Jula C Schroeder; Stephen J. Eichhorn; Avinash J Patil; Simon R Hall

doi:10.1039/D5RA00541H

Morphological control of cuprate superconductors using sea sponges as templates

Jan Maurycy Uszko, Jula C Schroeder, Stephen J. Eichhorn, Avinash J Patil, Simon R Hall^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Abstract

Functional porous superconducting sponges, consisting of YBa2Cu3O6+δ (YBCO) and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO), were created by biotemplating with natural sea sponges. Naturally occurring calcium in the spongin fibers was utilized to dope YBCO and to form BSCCO without adding any external calcium source. The sample morphology was confirmed with scanning electron microscopy, and the sample composition was confirmed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, powder electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The YBCO sponge exhibited a critical temperature (Tc) of approximately 70 K, and the BSCCO sponge showed a Tc of 77 K. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the feasibility of using sea sponges as a greener, more sustainable template for superconductor synthesis.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11189 - 11193
Number of pages	5
Journal	RSC Advances
Volume	15
Issue number	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/D5RA00541H
Publication status	Published - 17 Apr 2025

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Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

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title = "Morphological control of cuprate superconductors using sea sponges as templates",

abstract = "Functional porous superconducting sponges, consisting of YBa2Cu3O6+δ (YBCO) and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO), were created by biotemplating with natural sea sponges. Naturally occurring calcium in the spongin fibers was utilized to dope YBCO and to form BSCCO without adding any external calcium source. The sample morphology was confirmed with scanning electron microscopy, and the sample composition was confirmed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, powder electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The YBCO sponge exhibited a critical temperature (Tc) of approximately 70 K, and the BSCCO sponge showed a Tc of 77 K. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the feasibility of using sea sponges as a greener, more sustainable template for superconductor synthesis.",

author = "Uszko, {Jan Maurycy} and Schroeder, {Jula C} and Eichhorn, {Stephen J.} and Patil, {Avinash J} and Hall, {Simon R}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.",

year = "2025",

month = apr,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1039/D5RA00541H",

language = "English",

volume = "15",

pages = "11189 -- 11193",

journal = "RSC Advances",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Morphological control of cuprate superconductors using sea sponges as templates

AU - Uszko, Jan Maurycy

AU - Schroeder, Jula C

AU - Eichhorn, Stephen J.

AU - Patil, Avinash J

AU - Hall, Simon R

PY - 2025/4/17

Y1 - 2025/4/17

N2 - Functional porous superconducting sponges, consisting of YBa2Cu3O6+δ (YBCO) and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO), were created by biotemplating with natural sea sponges. Naturally occurring calcium in the spongin fibers was utilized to dope YBCO and to form BSCCO without adding any external calcium source. The sample morphology was confirmed with scanning electron microscopy, and the sample composition was confirmed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, powder electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The YBCO sponge exhibited a critical temperature (Tc) of approximately 70 K, and the BSCCO sponge showed a Tc of 77 K. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the feasibility of using sea sponges as a greener, more sustainable template for superconductor synthesis.

AB - Functional porous superconducting sponges, consisting of YBa2Cu3O6+δ (YBCO) and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO), were created by biotemplating with natural sea sponges. Naturally occurring calcium in the spongin fibers was utilized to dope YBCO and to form BSCCO without adding any external calcium source. The sample morphology was confirmed with scanning electron microscopy, and the sample composition was confirmed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, powder electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The YBCO sponge exhibited a critical temperature (Tc) of approximately 70 K, and the BSCCO sponge showed a Tc of 77 K. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the feasibility of using sea sponges as a greener, more sustainable template for superconductor synthesis.

U2 - 10.1039/D5RA00541H

DO - 10.1039/D5RA00541H

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 40247883

SN - 2046-2069

VL - 15

SP - 11189

EP - 11193

JO - RSC Advances

JF - RSC Advances

IS - 14

ER -

Morphological control of cuprate superconductors using sea sponges as templates

Abstract

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